“Suddenly at the start of the sermon, six or seven people came in,” Mr. Arshad said. “Some threw grenades and entered the main hall shooting. We could hear it going on above us.”

The attacks, which took place within minutes of each other at the mosques located a few miles apart, were clearly aimed at the Ahmadi community, which considers itself Muslim but is severely discriminated against under Pakistani law. Pakistan does not recognize the Ahmadi sect as part of Islam.
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Eyewitnesses outside the mosque near the rail station said they could see three attackers. One of them clambered up to the minaret and shot down at police officers, who fired back, they said. Two other attackers blew themselves up in the main hall, said Shahbaz Ahmad, who watched the standoff.
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The State Department report on Human Rights said this year that the estimated two million Ahmadis were forbidden by law from engaging in Muslim practices. The report said 11 Ahmadis were killed last year in Pakistan because of their faith.

Live broadcasts of the attacks in Lahore were notable Friday for omitting that Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims. Reporters and commentators rarely referred to the Ahmadis by name, preferring instead the phrase “minority community.”